If I close my eyes, I can hear it: the call of summer berries. OK, maybe that's just my stomach talking but nonetheless it's berry season. And you know what that means—it's shortcake season!

Shortcakes are really just sweetened biscuits. A few weeks ago we made cheddar biscuits, and the technique for this recipe is the same: cut cold fat into flour, add liquid (in this case heavy cream) and drop the finished dough onto a baking sheet.

Most traditional (read: wheat-filled) shortcakes, use white flour. I wondered how shortcakes made with a blend of whole-grain flours might taste. Would the mild, nutty flavor of the brown rice and sorghum enhance or overpower the delicate berries?

Turns out, the flours nicely enhanced the flavor of the finished shortcake. A few of my tasters thought the whole-grain version contained more vanilla than the shortcakes baked with white rice flour. The recipe didn't contain any vanilla extract! I think the combination of whole-grain flours added a fragrant, earthy tone that they mistook for vanilla. This was a happy surprise.

If you prefer a traditional shortcake, replace the brown rice and sorghum flour with white rice flour. I've made the recipe both ways and love both versions.

Allergen-Free Modifications: Dairy is the only "top eight" allergen this recipe contains. To make the shortcakes dairy-free, replace the butter with a solid dairy-free shortening and the half and half with a dairy-free replacement. If nuts aren't a problem for you, mimi-creme works well.

Add butter. Cut butter into dry ingredients by pulsing food processor a few times. Butter pieces should be about the size of a small peas. (If doing this by hand, cut shortening and butter into the dry ingredients with either a pastry cutter or by rubbing the fat into the dry ingredients with your hands.)

To make an easy strawberry shortcake: Toss sliced strawberries with confectioners' sugar. Allow berries to stand for about five minutes. Split shortcake in half. Top shortcake with berries and drizzle with cream or spoon whipped cream on top of berries.

Despite being born with life-threatening food-allergies, Elizabeth graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. Today Elizabeth develops delicious and creative recipes for the food allergic and gluten-free communities through her site GlutenFreeBaking.com, cooking classes, and regular radio and television appearances. She is the author of two cookbooks: Easy Gluten-Free Baking and
How to Cook Gluten-Free. And the host of the Cook Bliss podcast

PREVIEW YOUR COMMENT

HTML Hints

Comment Guidelines

Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more in the Comment Policy section of our Terms of Use page.